The present disclosure generally relates to humidified gases therapy. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to humidification systems for use in humidified gases therapy.
A patient dealing with respiratory illness, for example chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), can have difficulty engaging in effective respiration. This difficulty may be the result of a variety of causes, including a breakdown of lung tissue, dysfunctions of the small airways, excessive accumulation of sputum, infection, genetic disorders, or cardiac insufficiency. With some respiratory illnesses, it is useful to provide a therapy that can improve the ventilation of the patient. In some situations, the patient can be provided with a respiratory therapy system that includes a gases source, an interface that may be used to transmit gases to an airway of a patient, and a conduit extending between the gases source and the interface. Gases delivered to the airway of the patient from the gases source can help to promote adequate ventilation. The gases source may include, for example, a container of air and/or another gas suitable for inspiration, e.g., oxygen or nitric oxide, a mechanical blower capable of propelling gases through the conduit to the interface, or some combination of both. The respiratory therapy system can include a gases humidifier that can humidify and heat gases passing through the respiratory therapy system to improve patient comfort and/or improve the prognosis of the patient's respiratory illness. The gases humidifier can include a water reservoir and a heating element for heating the water in the reservoir. As the water heats up, water vapor is formed that can join the stream of gases passing through the gases humidifier.
Conventional gases humidifiers are useful in ameliorating the discomfort of cold and dry gases therapies, but are typically configured in such a way that all of the water in the reservoir, or an excess of water, must be heated before the generation of vapor rises to an acceptable level for providing adequately humidified gases. In some cases it can take up to half an hour from turning the humidifier on to begin generating sufficient water vapor. Additionally, conventional gases humidifiers may not be able to respond appropriately to changing input conditions, or may have an impaired response in part due to the high thermal inertia of the water in the reservoir.